History

1952 – the charity is founded

Scope is founded (as the National Spastics Society) by three parents of disabled children (Ian Dawson-Shepherd, Eric Hodgson and Alex Moira) and a social worker (Jean Garwood). They want disabled children to have equal access to education.

1957 – employment support

Our first employment officer, Bill Hargreaves, supports hundreds of disabled people to find their first jobs. We’re still supporting disabled people today to get into and stay in work with our ground-breaking services like Support to Work, Kickstart and Starting Line.

1970 – our first charity shop

We open our first charity shop in Sevenoaks, Kent. There are now more than 240 shops nationwide which raise money for our work and provide volunteering opportunities for over 4000 people.

1990 – helpline launches

TV personality and celebrity agony aunt Clare Rayner launches our telephone helpline, to provide free information and support to disabled people and their families. The helpline is still going today and supports over 22,000 people a year.

1994 – name change

We change our name to Scope. Ben Elton presented William Hague, Minister for Disabled People, with a flag signed by 40 celebrities and 12,000 signatures endorsing equal rights for disabled people.

2016 – End the Awkward

Two thirds of non-disabled people admit to feeling awkward around disability. We launch our End the Awkward campaign to change this, tackling it head on with some good old-fashioned British humour. Our research suggests we succeed in changing the perceptions of 88% of people who see our campaign.